


Romance Off The Cuff

by morrezela



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Didn't Know They Were Dating, Friends to Lovers, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 21:48:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9680270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morrezela/pseuds/morrezela
Summary: Gabriel didn't know what to do when he overheard his boyfriend telling Ana that they were just friends with benefits.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Reaper 76 Valentine's week prompt of: "First Date"

Gabriel wasn’t particularly fond of anyone in Overwatch except for Jack. Reinhardt was too loud and possibly a little bit unhinged. Torbjörn was too much of a snoop. He was also partly to blame for the Omnic Crisis, but Gabriel tried not to hold that too much against him.

Ana was… Actually, he kind of liked Ana. Ana was okay. Still, he liked Jack the best. Jack was his buddy. Jack was the guy who didn’t bat those beautiful blue eyes at the thought of joining this new strike team even though their mission was hopeless. But most importantly, Jack was his lover in all the naughtiest and purest of ways. Jack took good care of Gabriel, and Gabriel liked to think he returned the favor. 

Which was why Jack’s offhanded, “Oh, he’s not my boyfriend,” sent chills down Gabriel’s spine. A quick, almost accidental, glance confirmed that Jack was still talking to Ana. They were off in a corner, stripping down their guns, making sure everything was in order.

“Really?” Ana sounded as suspicious of Jack’s comment as Gabriel was. “You seemed rather… close these past few weeks.”

Gabriel figured “close” was how Ana described the unsubtle alone time they took whenever the opportunity arose. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a faint flush come to Jack’s cheeks. 

“I don’t want to call it a ‘friends with benefits’ situation, but it’s sort of like that. Gabe’s my best friend.”

“In my experience, best friends who spend the amount of time fucking that you two do are usually boyfriends,” Ana countered. Ana was now officially Gabriel’s second favorite of the group. 

Jack laughed. “I don’t think Gabe would agree with you on that.” Disappointment colored his words. 

In turn, sympathy filled Ana’s reply of, “Really?”

“There’s a reason he always introduces me as his, ‘best friend in the whole damn world.’ He doesn’t want anyone getting the wrong idea. Trust me, Gabe and romance are on a different level. He made a series of matching costumes for him and his last boyfriend so that they had a new outfit for every day of Comic-Con. The boyfriend before that was treated to a tower of homemade brownies sculpted into a heart for their first month anniversary. The one before that got asked out by a series of rose petals that spelled out, ‘Have dinner with me?’ once assembled in the right order.”

“That sounds like it could have gone badly,” Ana noted.

“He was asking out a cryptologist,” Jack said with a shrug. “Point is, Gabe hasn’t even taken me to a McDonald’s drive through.”

“You could ask him,” Ana suggested. “Maybe he’s just waiting for you to make the first move.”

“I tried once. I asked if he wanted to go to this nice bistro that had just opened up near the base we were stationed at. It was perfect for his tastes. Romantic view, rich food, fresh flowers on the table, the whole works. I got shut down so fast I think my head is still spinning.”

A sharp pain drew Gabriel’s focus away from whatever Ana said in reply. “Are you even listening to me, Commander?” Torbjörn said his title like he was personally offended by it. There was a hammer in his hand that Gabriel suspected had just been making contact with his knee.

Still, there was a job he was supposed to be doing that didn’t involve eavesdropping on his boyfriend who didn’t think he was his boyfriend. Knowledge of that duty didn’t keep him from scowling as he forced himself to pay attention to the schematics laid out before him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The logical way to fix Jack’s perception of their relationship was to take him out on a date. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much opportunity for Gabriel to do that. War had a way of interfering with romantic intentions. There was no way in hell Gabriel was going to ask Jack on a date that involved military rations and pretending the rest of the team wasn’t three feet away from them. 

Of course, that didn’t stop him from worrying about Jack deciding to form other attachments while he was preparing something suitably romantic. Traveling around the world meant meeting a lot of interesting and attractive people. Jack wasn’t blind and neither were the people looking at him.

The possibility of losing him due to a careless oversight plagued Gabriel’s thoughts, but the Omnic Crisis had a way of keeping him from doing anything about it. Even the possibility of a simple, heartfelt conversation disappeared under the weight of trying to cram living in with saving the world. Half the time, they were eating between rounds of ammunition being fired and sleeping standing up. Gabriel would be lying if he said he hadn’t lost weight from the constant demands of the job. So had Jack if the way his pants sat on his hips was any indication.

Of course, exhaustion had a great way of killing a man’s sex drive. While that meant their assignations dwindled down to nothing, it also meant the chance of Jack getting romantically entangled with a stranger was considerably lower than normal. 

“I feel half dead,” Jack complained as he slumped down next to Gabriel. He looked sleepy, which meant he looked adorable. Sleep, or the desire for it, always softened Jack’s expressions. It made his glances feel intimate, even if they weren’t.

“You should get some rest,” Gabriel replied. 

Jack snorted at what Gabriel presumed was the obviousness of his statement. “Can’t sleep, too tired,” he replied. “You should tell me about something. Talk to me about sewing.”

“So you can fall asleep? Thanks, Jack. I appreciate the compliment,” Gabriel teased.

“Shut up.” Jack’s hand weakly punched at Gabriel’s shoulder. “I like the sound of your voice. If you’re talking, I know you’re not dead.”

That wasn’t a sentiment Gabriel felt like teasing. A few years or a decade from the moment, sure. But he knew what it meant to have nightmares about death. He knew the sort of fears that drove those nightmares. Poking fun at fears that could very well come true was something he wasn’t enough of an asshole to do.

“I ever tell you how much I hate doing French seams? So freaking fiddly. Of course, the reason for using them is a big part of that. Cloth that travels is a nightmare to work with in most situations anyway.”

A heavy pressure greeted the end of Gabriel’s fourth sentence. Jack’s head had taken up residence on the same spot he’d just punched. His eyes were closed, allowing Gabriel to get a good look at the bruises on his face. The ones under his eyes were from lack of rest, but the others from injuries that were in various stages of healing.   
At any moment, Jack could be taken from him. Or he could be taken from Jack. Super Soldiers weren’t immortal. He really needed to figure out those date plans before that happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Reinhardt got injured in what should have been a simple skirmish. It was nothing more than a clean-up mission before the strike-team moved on to their next assignment. Instead, they were holed up in a private room in a hospital that was filled to the brim with wounded people.

If it had been five months ago, Gabriel would have insisted that the members of Overwatch didn’t need such special treatment. But that was before. Reinhardt wasn’t his favorite team member, but he wasn’t enough of an asshole to take the comfort of privacy away from him.

The door opened and closed, light footsteps announcing Ana’s presence. “Torbjörn is working on repairing Reinhardt’s armor. Jack is busy charming a local politician into loaning us a city vehicle while we wait for our transport to be repaired.”

“I thought I told everyone to get some rest,” Gabriel commented.

“Well, Torbjörn isn’t happy if he’s not working on something. And I think Jack isn’t getting that vehicle for completely work related reasons even if that’s what he’s telling everyone,” Ana said. “And you are getting out of this room so that I can take that chair you’re sitting in. Let me watch over Reinhardt for a while.”

With more effort than he would normally need, Gabriel heaved himself up out of the chair. “Be my guest,” he said with a flourish to the now vacated seat.

Ans sank down into it with only a trace of her normal gracefulness. The endless fighting was getting to them all. Exhaustion was around every corner. Sadly, so were more omnics.

“Good night Ana,” Gabriel said before leaving. It didn’t take long to track Jack down. A simple text message inquiring about his whereabouts resulted in coordinates being sent seconds later alongside a picture of a rather plain looking sedan.

“I’m told it’s the best vehicle in the fleet,” Jack said in greeting. 

Gabriel eyed the nondescript looking vehicle. “You sure about that?”

Jack shrugged and shook his head. “Who trusts politicians? But it runs, and there is still clean upholstery on the seats which is an upgrade from the last five vehicles we’ve been in.”

“Right,” Gabriel nodded. “So, are you going to take me someplace nice?” 

If Jack read anything into his flirty tone, he didn’t show it. “There’s a town not too far from here that is rumored to have a thriving little market. I figured we could hunt down some cheap food, maybe even find some beer if we’re lucky.”

“Sounds good,” Gabriel agreed, moving towards the sedan.

“I’m driving,” Jack ordered. 

“You don’t trust my driving skills?” 

“You’re right, I don’t trust your driving skills. I promised I’d give this sucker back in one piece,” Jack informed him.

Arguing the point would serve no purpose, so Gabriel got in the passenger side of the car. They didn’t speak on the way to the market. They’d long ago gotten past the point in their relationship where silence was uncomfortable. Sometimes the comfort of silence was better than any words of affection

Gabriel bit his lip. Was that really true? How much had he taken for granted in their relationship that Jack was so unclear about his intentions? Was he going to truly get a better chance than them being alone in a car together?

“So…” he cleared his throat.

Jack glanced over at him, eyebrows raised in question.

“Just so we’re clear, this is a date,” he stated as firmly as possible. Though he thought Jack’s eyebrows were high before, they somehow found the will to go higher.

Then, much to Gabriel’s dismay, Jack started laughing. Not just an amused chuckle of a laugh, no. It was a whole body laugh, the kind that made his broad shoulders shake with effort. Even though Jack was back to facing the road, Gabriel could see the smile stretching across his face.

“You’re really terrible at spontaneity,” Jack observed.

Gabriel huffed, crossed his arms over his chest and stared determinedly out his side window. He wasn’t hurt. Okay, he was just a little hurt. Jack’s reaction smacked of rejection. He tried to think of a different topic to bring up, but his mind couldn’t move that fast. Situations like this was why he preferred planning ahead of time.

The car started slowing down as Jack moved over to park on the shoulder of the road. Gabriel tried not to feel dread at the idea that they were about to have a serious conversation. He tried to console himself with the idea that he could take out any negative emotions on the next omnic he saw.

“You’re pouting,” Jack said when the car was finally parked.

“Shut up,” Gabriel growled back at him.

Jack sighed as if Gabriel was being difficult. Shortly after, there was a hand slipping onto Gabriel’s cheek. “Would you at least look at me? I don’t feel like having a conversation with the back of your head.”

Reluctantly, Gabriel did as he was asked. Jack’s face betrayed none of his emotions. Despite how easily he got along with others, Jack was rarely the open book everyone assumed he was. 

“Why the sudden interest in dating?” Jack asked.

“Because you apparently think we aren’t,” Gabriel informed him, “even though we have been dating for months. All because you expected big, romantic gestures from me even though, even though…”

“Even though you think I should have known better?” Jack suggested.

Gabriel softened. “Yeah.”

“I’m not a mind reader, you know. I can’t just tell what’s going on in your brain.”

“Do a good enough job in battle,” Gabriel reminded him.

“I’ve got years of experience with that.”

“Okay, fine. You might have a point,” Gabriel begrudgingly agreed. “But we’re still dating. This is a date. If you don’t want to be dating, then we can’t be fucking each others brains out anymore. I’m not into that.”

Jack laughed again. “You’re really not good at off the cuff romance. But I guess I can live with that in a boyfriend.”

Gabriel moaned in dismay to hide the pleased smile that wanted to crawl onto his face. “I hate that word. ‘Boyfriend’ makes me sound like a teenager.”

“Well, if you’re lucky, we can neck in the car like teenagers do,” Jack suggested. “But only if you show me a good time on our date.”

This time, Gabriel couldn’t help the smile that crawled onto his face. But that was okay because Jack was wearing it’s mirror.


End file.
